Freedom
by Dixxy Mouri
Summary: Sequel to Consequences of Capture. The Ronin Senshi's war with Trulpa could have gone better now, Ria's the only one left willing to fight the Dynasty. But when she meets an escaped prisoner of Trulpa, she realizes that the trouble is far from over.
1. Catalyst

Freedom

By Dixxy Mouri

Prologue

_September 12_

_There is a legendary flower known as the Lotus of Life. It is said to only grow once every one thousand years and has a most spectacular power – revival from death. I recall hearing the legend over the course of my servitude in the Dynasty, but it didn't seem like such a flower could possibly exist. Bring back the dead? That was something neither Talpa nor the Ancient One could do! Contacting spirits is one thing, but a complete revival seemed preposterous to me._

_That is, until I realized that I had been awakened from my eternal slumber and was lying naked in the middle of a field. Alive. My heart was beating, I was breathing, and I could move. The tattoo on my hand told me everything, and it seemed to me that there had only been one person who would have gone through the trouble of bestowing the gift onto me._

_I had no idea that the Ancient One valued my life enough to give me a second chance should I be fated to perish, though I suppose that all things considered, he knew. He had to have known. The moment he stopped Talpa from bringing me back, he knew that I was going to perish and he was unable to stop my impending death._

_Talpa had long sensed my confusion of allegiance – I was no longer serving him without question. Things were not as clear as they had once been, and he sensed that I would be a danger to his cause. As such, he cursed me and knew that I would not last another month – unless, of course, he succeeded in reclaiming his dark armor and trapping all nine armor bearers in eternal limbo._

_But that was a fate that I escaped, yet I knew that my days were numbered. With the little time I had left, I realized that I needed to do something to stop my former master from controlling the Mortal World – and that meant helping the five young Ronin Warriors in their quest against Talpa, and convincing the other Dark Warlords to change their ways. _

_That was the first time in a long time I felt like I was doing something right. Certainly I had enjoyed my work as a Dark Warlord – as shallow as that pleasure was – but now there was a different feeling inside of me that made me feel wonderful. I had, somewhat, befriended the Ronin Warriors. I had fallen in love with a woman (and it ached me that I would be unable to stay with her for much longer). Had I been able to live, I thought, I would have a happy life._

_Instead, I end up naked in the middle of no where in a country that speaks a foreign tongue (though, as luck would have it, one of the many tongues I had studied during my unnaturally long life). I had a second chance, and I decided that, once I was able to figure out how, I would return to the Ronin Warriors and my lovely Mia as soon as I could._

_But the presence of the Ancient One's Staff made me realize that there was something else I had to take care of first. My senses told me that the five Ronin Senshi were nearby, and I could feel the will of the Ancient One telling me that I had to help them before I could do as I pleased._

_For now, I must give up my quest to reunite with my lover and my friends._

_I have been somewhat lucky and I have made a companion here in the United States (the name of the country I have found myself in). His name is Michael Jones, though he prefers to be called Mike, and has a young daughter named Susan, or Susie for short. Somehow, he came across information about the armors and the Ancient One's clan and knew that I was connected to them the moment he and his daughter found me. He offered me a place to stay in exchange for information, and we agreed on that._

_September 24_

_The search for the Ronin Senshi hasn't gone very well yet. Mike and I have been pouring over information contained in his computer (as well as something called the "Internet") and within the various scrolls I was able to summon using the staff. So far we haven't found very much about how to locate the Senshi, but based on what I know of the Ronin Warriors, it is likely they are still fairly young, which has its benefits and difficulties. It is beneficial because they are strong, flexible, easy to teach – the perfect students. But their age would also make them very inexperienced – that could prove fatal._

_I have also been trying to integrate myself into the Mortal World, and it has not been an easy task. I had visited many times so I knew some of the basics, but many of the nuances of life were still very foreign to me. Learning to use a computer in and of itself was difficult, but I do find that I enjoy computers very much now. They're quite useful at storing information, and I've been entering several of the scrolls into the computer. It's been a long process (especially since typing is a skill that I'm not yet very good at), but I've made progress._

_I'd also like to get a job – Mike and Susie have been more than gracious about letting me stay with them, but I don't enjoy staying in the house all day, nor do I feel comfortable eating, staying, and using Mike's money to clothe myself – I need a job.. Mike doesn't think it's a wise idea for me to travel on my own through Boston by myself yet – that's the city we live in – and even though it would help in my search for the Senshi. . . he's probably right. There's so much I simply don't understand about this world._

_October 1_

_I've managed to find all five of the Ronin Senshi. It wasn't easy, but they all seem to at the very least understand that they have "magical marbles that do stuff". Albeit it's a very basic understanding, but they seem to realize that I am the one who will train them into the young warriors they are destined to be._

_But getting them to pay attention is impossible! Ria stops by often enough to ask questions about her role as Wildfire of the Senshi, but even she's been having trouble getting a good grasp on what I'm trying to teach them. Torrent of the Senshi and Halo of the Senshi don't want to fight at all – Hardock and Strata don't seem worried enough and are taking everything far too lightly. It's VERY frustrating!_

_Mike thinks that it might also have to do with my job search. I've decided that I would like to become a police officer, but I first need to establish myself within the Mortal World on paper. I don't have a birth certificate or a social security number or anything else people in the United States use to hire or not hire someone, and it's VERY annoying. Especially since my true information would be laughed at. They would never believe how old I really was._

_Ria tells me I should "chill" and not worry about the job thing too much – after all, I have five Ronin Senshi I need to train, and she's right. Getting into the police academy won't do me any good if the world is taken over before that happens. I remind her that I am trying to blend in with society – something that she seems to have no interest in._

_Ria is a rather unusual character. I think she's unhappy with her body because she's always doing things to change it – especially her hair style. She doesn't dress as conventionally as the other girls and is much more rash and outspoken than the others about what's on her mind. She reminds me of her armor – she's a wildfire, all right, but she willingly picks up her swords and practices every day with them – she's getting better. _

_I don't know the others girls nearly as well – Rona, Strata of the Senshi and Keisha, Hardrock of the Senshi have been friends long before they discovered their armors – they usually arrive and leave together. Samantha, Halo of the Senshi – or "Sam" for short – is withdrawn and doesn't say much during our meetings. Sara, Torrent of the Senshi, seems a bit mousy and is petrified to fight. These are the ones I'm worried about._

_October 21_

_I've been accepted to the police academy. As Ria would put it, this is "awesome". I'm very excited, but at the same time I now need to balance my own studying with teaching the girls. Ria comes by and tests me from some of the books I've purchased. She'll find an odd yet what she claims to be comfortable position somewhere and start asking me questions. We go back and forth, her giving me information on the police force, me on her armor._

_It's a good system, and I feel as if she and I are developing a very good working relationship. Perhaps we could even be friends instead of just student and teacher. _

_December 24_

_Mike has asked me to do something for him that I don't know if I can do or not. He's decided that, in the event something terrible happens to him and he dies as a result, he wants me to be Susie's legal guardian. To take care of her until she's old enough to survive on her own, to be her father figure when he real father is gone._

_I declined. _

_Susie is a wonderful little girl, and I don't deserve her. Susie is truly amazing – she's a sweet, loving little girl who is a constant reminder of what it is I've decided to protect. I believe she does the same thing to the Senshi (who are getting a little better at taking the whole "the Evil Dynasty wants to kill you" concept a bit more seriously now). She smiles, brings me drawings from school, and wants me to play with her when I'm not studying, training the Senshi, or researching with Mike. _

_I don't deserve her. I simply don't deserve to have a little girl like Susie be mine to love and cherish like a father loves his daughter. I don't deserve her. I don't understand why Mike doesn'tsee that – there are so many people more deserving of her than I am. But Mike persisted for a solid hour before finally giving up. He knows what I've done and how I feel about it, and his faith in me is astounding. Perhaps I have become a better person, but I still don't deserve her._

_February 9_

_Trulpa is coming. I can sense it._

_March 1_

_All things considered. . . the war went well in the sense that the Senshi were able to defeat Trulpa and prevent her from taking over the Mortal Realm. The chaos that had been brought to Boston has subsided, and no one but a few remembers what happened. Ria's great aunt, Sally, has admitted that although she knows something happened, she feels as if it's very hazy and she really doesn't recall anything._

_This, however, is the bright side of the situation. In reality, the situation was much, much worse. The war has left four of the five Senshi refusing to speak with each other or me. The one Senshi who has stayed – Ria – is completely alone without her comrades if another battle were to ensue, and the unthinkable happened to Mike._

_I don't know what was going through his mind. He knew that Anubra meant to attack and kill me, effectively getting rid of a valuable ally to the Senshi and extracting revenge on the Dynasty traitor. Normally I would have been able to take her, but as I no longer have my armor and the Ancient's Staff had been knocked far from my reach, I expected to die._

_Again._

_And yet, when I should have been impaled, I saw the body of my best friend in front of me, taking the blow meant for my head through his abdomen. I screamed, and Anubra was stunned enough that she didn't do anything for a minute or two (a minute or two that would ultimately save my life and put an end to hers).Certainly I don't believe she actually cared that she had killed him – likely, she was probably more surprised that he had willingly sacrificed his life for mine._

_But the damage had already been done. Mike had been impaled, and with Sam no where to be seen, he was done for. I wouldn't even be able to reach the Ancient One's staff to try and heal him. I screamed at him, asking him why he had done it. Why had he thrown his life away for mine? I wasn't worth it. I didn't deserve him as the man who had become my best friend. Why had he saved my life?_

_Mike just smiled and asked me one last time to take care of Susie._

_With that I was stunned. All I could do was accept the responsibility. Michael was dying – this was his final wish, and even though I still don't believe I deserve her, I couldn't deny a man his final wish. I told him I would take care of her. With that, Mike smiled at me, thanked me, and closed his eyes for the last time. _

_He was dead, and I couldn't help but blame myself for his death._

_I wanted to have time to grieve. Susie certainly needed time to grieve – this man was her father! And now she was all alone except for me. It wasn't fair that he had to die like that – but there was nothing I could do. Nothing. . . I couldn't do anything, with all the magic at my disposal I was helpless to help one of the few people who has ever believed in me like that._

_But now I have other things I need to worry about. For one, I suddenly have a young daughter on my hands and four Senshi too far disturbed by the events of the war to even look at each other right now. I can't just leave them like that – not for the sake of the world, and not for them, either. Just because they have been chosen to bear these armors doesn't mean these lives should be filled with this kind of emotional trauma. I want to help them, but they won't let me close enough to do it._

_Ria, on the other hand, seems to be doing somewhat okay. She's grown a bit cynical and sarcastic, but she's trying to get the other four Senshi to respond to her and she usually visits Susie and me at least once a week. She's become Susie's favorite baby-sitter when I have to work late (and as a police officer, that does happen) and the two have grown quite close. I'm thankful to have her around to help me out._

_But I still miss Mike, and I know it's far from over. . ._

Anubis closed the journal he'd been keeping off and on since his revival and sighed. This entire situation was far from desirable, and he desperately wished that he could figure out what to do or say to make the other four Ronin Senshi feel better and at least be able to carry on with normal lives outside of the armors.

It was in the evening, and he was sitting in the sun room of Mike's house (even though he was now the technical owner, he still felt that it was the house that belonged to his late best friend) with his foster daughter and his only remaining student. The girls were sitting on the floor near the table he was writing on, playing some kind of board game and drinking hot chocolate. He looked over at them and smiled – it was nice that he wasn't alone on a night like this.

"The sky looks nice tonight," Ria said. Anubis looked up and nodded in agreement. "The stars are so pretty. Rona used to like looking at the stars – remember that? She'd bug the rest of us to camp out on the roof of her building and we'd just sit and talk and look at the stars, and it was great, you know?"

"I remember," he said. "She loved those nights."

Ria sighed and swallowed. "I want to do that again."

Anubis closed his eyes. "So would I."

"And I want to go to the beach with Sara, and go see a play or a movie with Sam, and go on a run with Keisha," said Ria. She grinned. "I just need some time and I'll get my friends back. They can't keep doing this forever. I won't let them." Susie looked at Ria with a slight pout on her face. Ria just grinned and patted the girl on the head. "Yeah, that's right – I'm going to get them back. Just you wait."

"But after everything that happened. . . how can you be so sure?" asked Susie.

"I've got a hunch," she said with a wink and a cheeky smile. Susie smiled up at her, trusting the older girl. I watched with amused skeptiscism. "Woman's intuition – you'll get it when you're older."

Anubis frowned and rolled his eyes. "Don't you have school in the morning?"

The girls responded in unison. "It's Friday night."

The temporary Ancient One nodded. "Well, no school or not. . . I need to work in the morning. And I'd like to get a good night's sleep so I don't make a complete fool of myself." That was true – he'd graduated from the police academy with flying colors and was finally going to be wearing a uniform as a police officer first thing in the morning.

Ria downed the last of her hot chocolate and raised an eyebrow at Anubis. "Anubis? They're probably going to have you giving out parking tickets or something – are they even going to give you a gun yet? I mean, I could probably give our parking tickets and I haven't even finished a year of high school yet."

Anubis stuck his tongue out at her. Ria grinned – she enjoyed getting a rise out of Anubis. "I already have my gun and, well, I'm not sure what I'm doing but I'm not going to be the city's meter maid tomorrow. That's why you're staying over tonight – as talented as a warrior you are, I really, really need a baby-sitter right now."

Ria shrugged. "Hey, unrestricted access to your fridge and free cable for a day? I'm down with that," she said. Susie giggled and the girls exchanged a high five. Anubis wondered what condition he would find the house in when he get home. Certainly he knew that Susie would be SAFE with Ria, but that wouldn't stop the two of them from making a mess.

Anubis bit his bottom lip. _Deal with it – you're got bigger things to worry about._

He didn't know how right he was.

* * *

_A few months later. . ._

* * *

Even though it had been a while since Trulpa had lost to the Senshi, her anger was just as terrifying as it had been on the day of her defeat. Certainly she had a backup plan in the event the Ronin Senshi won, but her defeat had been catastrophic. Not only had she been completely humiliated by those little girls, but she had lost one of her Warladies – that made her very, very angry. 

Of course, now that the Senshi had defeat her she was able to more than double her number of Warlords thanks to her brother's former idiots and Osiris, but she also had three personal chew toys to play with as well. Indeed, if Anubis or any of those little girls knew that she had three of the Ronin Warriors in her clutches, they would be weary.

In an attempt to calm her nerves, Trulpa was taking a mud bath in her personal chambers. She didn't stay in power for this long because of stupidity – she knew that making angry decisions would only worsen her chances of extracting revenge on those little brats. She needed to be able to concentrate and plan out the details of her plot – she could not let her anger over her loss get the best of her.

"M'lady?"

Trulpa looked up – she had been joined by Daria and Vanessa, two of her remaining Warladies. "Well? What is it?" she asked. "You both know I'm very angry, and unless you have news to cheer me up, I would suggest you leave immediately." Even when she was naked and taking a bath, Trulpa still commanded a sense of superiority about her.

The two Warladies exchanged a look, and Daria decided to take charge. "We have a plan," she said. "But I must confess we didn't come up with the plan until we stumbled across some of Anubra's paperwork – Mistress Trulpa, why didn't you tell us one of our special guests was the Child of Destiny?"

"What!? How did you-?"

"It's not important – what IS important is that we know how to stop the Ronin Warriors and the Ronin Senshi," said Vanessa. She cleared her throat. "Because of the Child of Destiny, this is the Age of Legends – your defeat is only a small taste of what those little brats are capable of. As it is we know that one of the Hardrocks is a seer – who's to say what his partner in arms can do, or what any of the others might be capable of?"

"I'm not an idiot – I know all of that! Get on with it!" Trulpa snapped.

"The Age of Legends requires all ten Ronins to work," Daria added in quickly. "All it would take to make their group fall apart is the death of one of them. Just one. Kill any of them – even the Child of Destiny – and you will be unstoppable. They won't work if they aren't ALL together."

"I've already tried to kill the Senshi – it's what I've been trying to do for the past nine hundred years!" Trulpa said. "What's changed now that they have the potential to be even MORE powerful? Amongst them is the Chosen Mate and some Third Eye whose powers we don't even know about yet – the other three are complete wild cards!"

"You have three Ronin Warriors in your grasp – why don't you just execute one of them?" asked Daria. "They don't have their armors, and even if they did, the three of them together wouldn't be able to take you. I strongly doubt that the Child knows how to control his powers, or even if he's aware that he's the Child – if they tried to fight back, they would die. They know that, or else they would have tried harder to fight back."

Trulpa leaned back in her bath and mulled this over. "An execution, eh?" she said. She chuckled to herself. "You're right – it wouldn't take much for me to kill one of them, would it? Just off with his head and the rest of them are finished." She turned to her Warladies. "I already know which one I'm going to kill. We'll schedule the execution at once."

* * *

_That afternoon. . .

* * *

_

Sage wasn't sure what Trulpa was up to this time, but he was being led somewhere in chains, escorted by Daria and Vanessa, both of whom were fully armored up. _They're not taking any chances right now – do they know about what I am?_ He internally shuddered at the thought. No. It seemed unlikely. If they knew they probably would have bound his back or something as well.

The Ronin Warrior of Halo was led into a small outdoor arena. Now he was confused – Trulpa almost NEVER let them outside except for sitting on a balcony, and even then she didn't like it whenever they got a taste of the air outside of the castle. So why was he being brought outside now?

In the middle of the area was Trulpa, standing next to a wooden block and holding an all-too familiar sword. Sage narrowed his eyes in suspiscion. _This can't be good. That's the sword Talpa made using our powers – what's she going to do with THAT?_ He didn't dare vocalize anything right now – Kento and Cye weren't around, and he did NOT like it when Trulpa directed her anger at them – especially when they were alone.

Trulpa stepped forward. "Put your hands out." Sage stared at her, considered spitting in her face, but held back when her eyes started to glow. "I said put your hands out, you insufferable little brat!" Now was not the time to argue, and Sage closed his eyes as he held out his hands, afraid of what she was going to do.

Much to his surprise, his felt a familiar round object fall into his hands. He opened his eyes in surprise as he saw the green marble proudly displaying the kanji for "Wisdom". "My. . . armor orbe?" he said. He looked up at Trulpa in confusion – what was she up to now? "You don't expect me to be one of your Dark Warlords?" His captor only grinned in response and snapped her fingers.

Daria and Vanessa shoved Sage to his knees, and Trulpa lifted her foot to push his head onto the block. Sage's eyes widened, clutching his hands around the armor. _Are they going to. . . oh no!_ He started to shake, holding back tears. Trulpa was finally planning on killing them. And she was starting with him.

"I'm going to have to kill you now, but if I want any kind of control over your armor afterwards, it needs to be in your possession at the time of death," she said cooly. He felt the blade glide across the back of his neck – she was teasing him now. "Don't worry about your little friends – I'm not done with them – yet. For now, I need them alive."

"Why are you doing this!?" Sage demanded, the two Warladies holding his struggling body at bay – between the two of them and Trulpa, he couldn't fight them off. _I can't give up, but I'm not going out ignorant, either!_ "What made you decide to kill me all of a sudden?!"

"That's for me to know."

Sage looked up and glared at Trulpa. "Miserable bitch."

"Good-bye, Sage of the Halo!"

Sage closed his eyes, waiting for the blade to drop down, but it never came.

What came instead was a loud barking noise and the clanging of the sword as it hit the ground. Cautiously, he opened his eyes to see none other than Dash barking in the arena, distracting Trulpa, Vanessa, and Daria from his execution. Stupidly, all three women started to chase after the dog. "What the. . .?"

Sage quickly snapped back into reality. There was an exit to the area – it led out into the Nether Realm, but it wasn't all under Trulpa's command – he might be able to get out of her domain. It was only about a hundred yards away – he could make that easily. There were no guards – just two distracted Warladies listening to Trulpa's orders. He had his armor orbe. . . and, come to think of, access to that sword as well. Cautiously, Sage got to his feet and quietly wrapped his hand around the sword. _Better in my possession than theirs, _he realized. He began to back towards the exit, keeping his eye on the women.

It was about that moment that Dash changed his mind and started to charge towards Sage – it was also about then that Trulpa, Daria, and Vanessa realized he was about to escape. Trulpa started to scream and began to prepare some kind of nasty spell. _Dash, you stupid mutt! What the hell did you do that for!?_

Of course, Sage now began to see just how fast Dash was – VERY fast.

Before Sage realized what hit him, he was on Dash's back, carrying the sword and his armor orbe, and was riding clear out of Trulpa's reach. He looked behind him to see Trulpa and the Warladies trying to catch up, but even with his added weight, Dash was still too fast for her, and Sage realized that he was escaping.

_Cye and Kento must have figured out what Trulpa was planning on doing and sent Dash to get me out of here,_ he realized. The Warrior of Halo looked behind him to hear Trulpa swearing and yelling at him, and for the first time in many months, Sage realized he was smiling from genuine happiness, and he began to laugh as Trulpa faded from view. After months of torture, imprisonment, and enslavement, it was over.

He had his freedom.

* * *

Author's Notes

The point of Anubis' journal was to get through the parts of the story that now replace what was once RSL. I have had a TERRIBLE time just trying to get that story STARTED that this seemed like the better way to do it. Of course, that's only part of the story, and little bits and pieces of the war will filter into this story – especially where it concerns why the other Senshi have flipped out.

I've also learned that Nilla Wafers plus vanilla frosting is a pretty awesome snack.

Furthermore, I would like to take a second to explain my extended absence. In short, I had a sort of "mental breakdown" (using the term very, very loosely). I wasn't send to the funny farm, but I have been in counseling and I'm on Prozac. True, I have been updating a One Piece story since about January, although this problem has been around since last August. It's been tough. Very, very tough.

There's also college and social like and other anime. . . and video games. . . but I digress.

Consider this a sequel to the most recent version of _Consequences of Capture_.

Dixxy


	2. Important Meeting

Freedom

By Dixxy Mouri

Chapter One

The last tests had been passed in, the final "thank yous" had been spoken by nervous presenters, and a barrage of students left the high school in a mad rush to reach cars, buses, and waiting friends to start their summer vacation. Some of the seniors hung back, realizing that their days in the building were numbered, but the underclassmen had other things on their mind. Juniors were rejoicing in being the top of their social pyramid during the next year while sophomore girls began to chatter about their first proms – or at least those who didn't have junior or senior boyfriends. Most of the freshmen were just glad that they weren't the bottom of the food chain anymore, and certainly more than a few were thinking up a few "initiation rituals" for the incoming class.

Ria Carmichael stuck a couple of pieces of gum into her mouth and began to chew as she made her way past the droves of students. While most of her peers were going to be making a bee line for Cape Cod or someplace else where they could get half naked and run around like children, she had a minor responsibility to tend to first. But she didn't mind – right now the people she considered her main group of friends weren't speaking to each other or her, and going to the beach wasn't much fun unless you had someone to go with.

_Maybe I can convince Anubis to let me take Susie to the aquarium or something this weekend – I'm sure she's itching to start her vacation, too,_ Ria mused as she popped a bubble and swayed her hips as her heels clicked against the sidewalk. She didn't care if they were out of season – she adored her knee-high boots in all their high-heeled glory. They made her feel powerful and sexy. She didn't walk in those things – she was strutting.

All the way down to the elementary school, where Susie would be waiting.

Okay, so maybe not ALL of her friends were freaking out about what happened a few months earlier. Ria really didn't care that Susie was nine and that Anubis was, well, about fifty times that age – she felt a connection with them and didn't mind doing things with them. Certainly she got a few stares from some of the other kids at school if she was seen with Anubis and Susie in public, and she definitely heard some of the whispers behind her back.

"Is Ria Carmichael really dating an older man?"  
"Is that his kid?"

"I heard they're gonna elope when she turns sixteen and she's gonna adopt that kid."

"I heard they've had sex in the back of his police cruiser while he was on duty."

"He's a cop?"

"Yeah, he's really high up in the rankings, too."

Of course that was all a load of crap. Anubis was still fairly new to the force – he hadn't even come close to his first promotion yet (although he was well-liked by his comrades and his partner, he wasn't ready for the added responsibility yet). And they certainly weren't involved – Ria was mostly his baby-sitter right now, and with his sporadic hours, she was on the job a lot. She wasn't surprised the rumors existed, but they were still worth about as much as a the ugly green potato chip at the bottom of the bag.

But she didn't care too much what they thought anyways – let them think what they want. If they asked her she'd tell them the truth, and if they didn't believe her, well, that was their problem, not hers. Screw them. Ria didn't feel the need to have to over-explain that her primary source of income was currently baby-sitting.

Stupid classmates aside, she decided that she did want to have some fun over the summer – even if Susie was with her, she was a good kid. She was a little mature for her age, so even though they wouldn't be able to get into any PG-13 films or anything, they could still go shopping or playing board games or something without Ria getting too frustrated. Sometimes Susie let her age show, but sometimes she had this way of saying things that made so much sense it was weird.

And then she'd run to that stupid yellow sponge on the television.

Ah well. Ria didn't feel a need to see Susie grow up too fast – she was nine after all. Still had plenty of time to be a kid and more than enough time to be mature. In many ways it was a good quality, but Ria had to admit – there were sometimes she didn't see a need for it. Not making fun of the other children was a good thing. Commenting on the ethics of war? Good in its own way, but a little creepy.

Ria was soon enough within eyesight of the elementary school and the parade of yellow school buses waiting to pick up the screaming students. Ria had spent some time herself at Susie's school after she moved in with Sally, but she didn't feel a strong personal connection to the place.

It wasn't quite the end of classes yet, so she meandered over to the playground to sit on one of the swings. She grasped the slightly rusty chains, and pushed herself back and forth a little bit. "I used to swing all the time when I was a little girl," she said softly to herself. "Especially with Pops around."

Pops was her grandfather, the man that she thought was supposed to raise her. After her parents died when she was just a baby, it was the two of them for a very long time. He was the one that she took her first steps towards, spoke her first words to, and wanted to never leave her – ever. He was her everything.

Her grandfather had a job that required him to move a lot, so he was really the only person she felt a connection to. She didn't make any close friends at any of her old schools, so as far as she was concerned they were just there to play with for a little while, and then she and her grandfather would go someplace new again, and she probably wouldn't see most of them for a very long time, if ever.

One that that almost never changed, though, was swing sets. It was something both she and her grandfather loved, and in almost every house they lived her grandfather had a swing set for them. When she was little, he would push her, and as they got older, they would swing side by side, her red pigtails flying in the in wind as she laughed as shrieked as she went up and down, up and down.

_"Pops! I'm flying!"_

_"You sure are, Sugar Bee! Like a bird!"_

_"A phoenix! With a big fiery tail!"_

_"Ha, ha! Of course you are!"_

Ria rested her head against one of the chains, squeezing tight as painful memories swept through her head. Pops had died a while ago while they were living in New York City. It was the first time she'd med her Aunt Sally (her grandfather's sister) and he'd gone out quickly to get something – pizza, or maybe Chinese food. Ria didn't remember. But hours passed and he didn't return, and finally, around one in the morning, they got a visit from a police officer.

Pops was dead. He'd been robbed and left for dead in an alley while his murderer was off somewhere in the Big Apple with innocent blood on his hands. Ria felt a dark anger swirling inside of her – even though she'd never seen the murderer's face, she hated them.

_Stinking son of a bitch._

The police never found her grandfather's killer, which was infuriating. How could that person continue to eat and sleep and go to work and play and do whatever when they knew that her grandfather would never be able to do any of those ever again? And that person would have left her all alone in the world had it not been for Sally, her grandfather's only sister, bless her old heart. Sally and Ria were all they had left of their beloved brother and grandfather. And for that, they stuck together.

_I'm alone right now, though. This playground is kinda deserted. _

It was true – the children were all inside the school, leaving the slides, swings, and monkey bars eerily quiet, except for her. Ria shuddered – the emptiness was a bit unsettling. It was a playground, after all – shouldn't it be filled with screaming children and joy? But the absence of laughing, playing children made the playground look like an eerie kind of ghost town.

Ria got off the swing as she heard the sounds of children nearby – school was out, the little elementary school kids were flooding out of the school, brightly colored backpacks over their shoulders and pudgy faces wishing each other well as they headed off to their summer vacations. Ria smiled – little kids were so cute. Occasionally annoying, but cute.

She spotted Susie walking towards her with a pack of other children in her age group. The girl spotted Ria and began to run towards her, waving to her friends. Her friends all waved back – in their eyes, it was cool that their friend was hanging out with a high school girl.

"Hi Ria!" Susie said. Ria smiled and lifted the girl off the ground. "Eee!"

"Hey kiddo," she said. "Let's get you home, all right?"

"Okay!" said Susie. "But put me down, first."

Ria nodded and the two began to walk back to Mike's house, Susie telling the older girl about her day – it had been a short day, and it was mostly their teacher giving them old projects that had been hung on the wall, faded from sunlight, and some candy or something as farewell gifts. The Senshi nodded and listened, shoving a hand in her pocket as the two girls continued to walk.

It didn't take long before Ria suddenly began to feel nervous.

Ria felt her armor react to something. _What is it, Wildfire?_ she thought. Her armor couldn't communicate through words to her, but she definitely sensed her body temperature rising in preparation for a fight. She looked around – everything looked normal, but she could feel a slight sixth sense telling her that things were not right. She stopped, nearly jerking Susie to the ground in the process. "Something's not right."

Susie looked up at Ria. "Is the Dynasty back?"

"I don't know," she said. "I hope not. Just in case, stay close to me."

The little girl nodded and stood closer to Ria as the people walking along the streets of Boston began to vanish before their eyes. Wildfire of the Senshi pulled the girl closer to her, her eyes darting around to figure out what was going on as the world turned was engulfed in a purple pink haze. "What!?" asked Ria. "They're fading away like ghosts – crap, it's a Circle of Mist!"

"Ria, this is bad!"

Ria's eyes widened in fear. _If this is Trulpa's doing, I'm in big trouble. _"No kidding, Susie," she said. "C'mon! We've gotta get out of here! If this is the Dynasty, I can't handle it by myself!" Lifting the girl off the ground again, Ria started to run. Susie started to scream, but clung to the older girl for protection.

The girls darted through the ghostly pink streets of the city, Ria desperately trying to find a way out of the haze. _I can't get into a battle with Susie right here! Not alone! Not now! Aw man, these Dynasty bastards have really crappy timing, don't they?_

Unfortunately, Ria was greeted by a rather large number of Dynasty soliders as she turned a corner. "Oh no!" she cried. Susie screamed, and Ria took off at full speed in the other direction. Unsurprisingly, the Dynasty soldiers gave chase. Every bad word Ria knew began to fly through her head.

As she turned another corner, she was greeted by a second mob of soldiers. "DAMN IT!" she screamed. Susie cried and clung to Ria, who put her on the ground and reached for her armor orbe. "Susie. . . you're going to have to stick close to me, okay? I'm going to have to fight, and you need to stay close to me so you don't get hurt."

"RIA!"

"WILDFIRE OF THE SENSHI, TAO JIN!"

In a quick burst if magical fire, Ria was no longer wearing her street clothing, but rather the white and red under gear of her mystical armor. She took a fighting pose and grinned. "All right, ya Dynasty douche bags – you want a fight? Then come and get me!"

The two groups began to run towards Ria, who hoisted Susie off the ground, leapt into the air, and landed on a building as the two groups collided with each other, tangling themselves together. Ria put the girl down and looked into the chaos. "Okay, that worked a lot better than I thought it would."

"Ria, how are we going to get out of here?"  
"I don't know, but I know I can't keep using tricks like that forever," she said. "And there's no way I can fight that many of them by myself – there's got to be at least fifty of them! And knowing these things there will be more on the way. Plus, I've got you to worry about."

Susie frowned. "I wish I could help. . ."

"That makes two of us."

Ria crossed her arms and tapped her fingers on her arms. She turned to Susie and grinned. Susie had a fearful look in her eyes as she appeared to be gazing past Ria. "Well, good news is they haven't followed us up here yet. We seem to be safe up here for now – GACK!"

Ria grabbed the rope that was suddenly around her neck, turning enough to see a Dynasty soldier had, indeed, followed her to the roof and was now trying to strangle her. If she had been able to breath, she would have sworn, but try as she might, she couldn't free herself from the rope.

"RIA!"

"Knock it off, Tin Head!"

Ria felt the pressure around her neck release and she fell to her knees, gasping for breath as Susie ran to her side – the helmet of the soldier clattered to the ground nearby. The little girl started to fret about the older girl, hugging her tightly. Feeling a little lightheaded, Ria returned the gesture. "Ria! Are you okay? You almost died! And – Mister, who are you?"

Ria turned her head, her eyes widening as she saw something she didn't expect. Standing behind them was a tall young man with golden blond hair and sharp violet eyes – truth to be told, the shape of his face and hair made Ria feel weak in the knees because this guy was HOT! - but what really stood out was the green and white sub armor he was wearing. _It looks just like Sam's! But how!?_ "That's. . . that's sub armor!"

The boy nodded. "Good to see you've passed Armor Identification 101 – now let's waste these Tin Cans and get out of here before something really nasty shows up," he said, extending a hand. "Can you stand up?" Ria looked at his hand, nodded, and took it.

"My name's Ria – Wildfire of the Ronin Senshi," she said, letting the young man pull her to her feet. Susie squeezed her hand, eying the stranger intently as she hid behind her friend. Ria took note that some of the soldiers were making their way to the roof, but she still needed to know who this guy was. "Who the hell are you?"

The young man paused, then turned to her. "Sage of the Halo."

"But, Sam has that-"

"It is, but it isn't the same armor," said Sage. He held up his hands defensively. "Look, I'm a friend and if you take me to see Anubis I'm sure he'll help me explain everything to your satisfaction. We need to get out of here first, but it's very important I get a meeting with Anubis before it's too late."

"How do I know this isn't a trick?"

Sage shook his head. "I'm afraid you don't, and I don't know you're not a trick."

Ria raised an eyebrow. "For now, I'm willing to trust you." She narrowed her eyes. "But I'll be expecting a damn good explanation once this is over. I do not know how you got Sam's armor – or not Sam's armor – or what the hell it is, but I don't know what's going on, but it sounds like you do. So you'd better cough up some information later. Got it?"

Sage nodded, pointing to the soldiers who were making their way to the roof. "They aren't giving up easily," he said. "Each of us should stand with our backs to the girl – that should keep any of them from getting to her and give us a good view of all sides. You watch my back and I'll watch yours."

"Sounds good," said Ria, taking the place Sage had instructed her to take. She cracked her knuckles and looked back towards Sage. "Any specific plan of action you want to take aside from just 'fight bad guy, lather, rinse, repeat?' all day long? 'cause I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to."

Sage shrugged. "These guys are easy enough to take down with physical attacks – just, you know, punch them or something," he said. He slid into a fighting stance of his own. "They aren't too smart, and there's only so many of them, right? All we have to do is outlast them."

"THAT'S YOUR PLAN!?"

"DO YOU HAVE A BETTER IDEA!?"

"STOP FIGHTING!"

Ria ducked and punched one of the oncoming soldiers. "Okay, okay! Let's just take these guys out and get out of here before something worse comes along and I can get my explanation!" She grabbed a spear and impaled another soldier. "Unless you think now's a good time to start talking, Mr. Halo!"

"Long story short – there's are two sets of armors," Sage said, kicking one soldier into two others, knocking them down as he punched a forth. "Nine armors for men, nine armors for women – almost identical sets. I have the Halo armor from the male set, like you have the Wildfire armor from the female – DIE, BUCKET HEAD!"

"Why didn't I hear about this before!?" Ria asked, kneeing another soldier.

"Too complicated to explain now – HEAD'S UP!"

Ria squatted and reached above her head, grabbing another spear – she tossed the soldier forward, hitting several of his friends and sending them all to the ground. She elbowed another soldier, checked on Susie, and continued to fight. "Thanks for the heads up! Now, why are you here helping me now?!"

Sage grunted as he grabbed onto a chain and pulled the soldier forward, kneeing it in the groin area before taking the chain weapon for himself. "Because we've got much bigger things to worry about than this and we need to talk to Anubis as soon as we get out of here! Trulpa's up to a lot more trouble that you guys realize and if we don't do something about it we could all get killed!"

"Oh, we've got MORE trouble coming?" Ria said incredulously. Sage didn't answer her right away, and as she continued to fight, she felt herself getting progressively more snarly. "PERFECT! That's just what I didn't want to hear! How did you know! I just started my summer vacation and-"

This was about the moment where Sage had a change of plans. "They don't seem to be stopping – we need to make a run for it!" Sage picked up Susie and grabbed Ria's hand. "C'mon!" Ria cried out as Sage began to run, leaving Ria's legs barely touching the ground. She looked behind her and saw that the soldiers were not keeping up with Sage (despite carrying one child and one teenager).

"Where are we going!?" asked Susie.

"I don't think this thing can go on forever – we'll get out of here if we keep running!" he said, leaping across building roof tops and dodging other obstacles in their way. "Did you encounter anything like this when you fought Trulpa for the first time, Ria?"

"Yeah – Anubis called them 'Circles of Mists'," said Ria, trying to keep up with the faster young man. "I got caught in one while fighting Trulpa a few months ago. They're good for isolating people, so Trulpa was probably trying to keep the other Senshi from helping me out of this mess – so, wait a minute, how the hell did you get in here?"

"They weren't after you initially," said Sage. "I'm the one they want!"

"What!?"

"I told you, we've got bigger problems to worry about – the reason they want me is because they don't want me passing on information to you, Anubis, and the other Senshi! For all I know they just brought you into the Circle to try and take you out as well! They want me dead, and if they think you know what I know, they'll probably want you dead, too!"

"What do you know that's so important they want you dead this badly!?"  
"I think I can see the exit! Hold on!"

Ria looked ahead and saw a solid pink wall. She and Susie began to scream, but Sage didn't stop running. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!? WE'RE GOING TO CRASH, YOU IDIOT!" Ria continued to swear, but Sage's grip on her hand was too tight. "WHAT'S GOTTEN INTO YOU!?"

"I'M GETTING US OUT OF HERE!"

Within a split second, they passed through the wall, and the three collapsed onto the ground – there was no sign of the Dynasty, and it was as if they had just popped back into existence. Ria sat up, looking around – they were in an alley, so it was likely no one saw them. She dismissed her subarmor and sighed with relief. "That was a close one."

"No kidding," said Sage. He stood up and dismissed his own subarmor – he now looked like a normal person, wearing old sneakers, a green t-shirt, a denim jacket, and a pair of jeans. He brushed his pants off and helped Susie to her feet, then turned his attention back to Ria. He folded his arms and smiled. "So, can you take me to Anubis?"

Author's Notes

Okay, here you guys go! No major comments for now, except thank you for everyone who extended their feelings for me in regards to my mental troubles. 

I also wanted to thank Crystal Cat Chan (Triple C or TC for short) for being a beta reader for what I've written thus far – including parts of chapter two.

Dixxy


	3. Story Exchange

Freedom

By Dixxy Mouri

Chapter Two

"Why do you want to see Anubis so badly?" asked Ria. By this point the three were walking down the streets of Boston, Susie clinging to Ria's hand as Sage walked with them, looking around the city in interest. Ria guessed that this was his first time to the city, so she marked up his wandering eyes to that.

"Anubis knows who I am, and it's really important that he knows what's going on – I'm pretty sure Trulpa wants him dead, too, so he probably needs a fair warning," said Sage. "I don't know if he ever told you, but, well, let's just say that Anubis is very, very unpopular with the Dynasty."  
"He's the student of the Ancient One – of course they won't like him."  
"It goes deeper than that," he said. Sage turned to Ria, a sad look in his eyes. "I guess he didn't tell you – it's probably better you hear it from him anyways." Ria's eyes widened in surprise, but she didn't push the issue further. "I know you probably don't trust me, but. . . we're all in big trouble, and at least for now, I need your help, and you probably need mine. Things are not the way they usually are right now, and it's not good at all."

"Well, you definitely helped out a lot back there," said Ria. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," he said. "So, where are the other Senshi?"

"They aren't talking to me."

Sage looked at Ria in surprise. "Why?"

Ria lowered her eyes. "Our battle with Trulpa wasn't exactly easy for them, and they all kind of panicked or something, I guess," she said. "None of them wants to deal with the armors anymore – I guess I can't blame them, but Anubis thinks they just need some time to sort things out on their own. They can't exactly run from this forever, but for now I can't get so much as a 'hello' from any of them – they run the other way as soon as they see me coming if they can help it."

Sage sighed. "They'll need to get over themselves soon."

"I've been wanting that for the past few months – I still say they're my friends, and from what little I've seen of them, I can tell they're miserable, but they won't listen to me," said Ria. "They all seem so sad, but they're shutting me and each other out of their lives, and it's kind of scaring me. There's not much I can do, unfortunately."

"Well, we might need to give your friends a kick in the pants," said Sage.

"That's not very nice," said Susie.

The male Halo sighed. "I know it's not, but we can't wait around for them to sort their feelings out forever – we don't have that kind of time," he said. "The world needs them – now. And I wish we could give them more time to figure things out, but the fact of the matter is. . . we can't."

"I don't know why. . . but I think I believe you," said Ria, shoving one hand into her pocket. "It might be because you seem sincere enough, or because of your armor, or because you helped us out back there, or because you have a really nice ass, but I think I believe you."

Sage nearly stopped in his tracks. "I have a nice what?"

"Anubis isn't home right now – he's a police officer and he's on duty until later tonight – but we can at least wait for him there and maybe get some food in you – I know I'm hungry!" said Ria. "Anubis said he'd leave me some money for delivery, so we sit and talk about what's going on until Anubis gets back, order dinner, and then we can fill him in, okay?"

Sage gave Ria and quick smile. "Thanks. But I'm going to ask again; I have-"

"You heard me. A really, nice, ass."

* * *

"Basically, the legend goes like this," said Sage. The three had arrived back at Mike's house and were sitting in the living room with some Thai food. "A very long time ago, the Nether Realm wasn't the terrible place it is now – I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't even called that back then. But the world was populated by two intelligent species – the Flitteree and the Amazons. The Flitteree could fly, and the Amazons possessed heightened strength and senses – both species were very humanoid, except for the winged Fliteree, but they have a way of hiding their wings."

"Uh huh," said Ria.

Sage looked sadly down. "I recently found out I'm descended from the Flitteree tribe – I know I look human, but I'm really not," he said. Ria nearly choked on a spring roll and Sage looked at her in worry, standing up to try and help her as she finally got it out of her throat. "Are you okay!?"

"I'm fine, but you're telling me you're not-?!"

"I'm not," said Sage. "About a year ago I found out I was adopted – that led to a really nasty fight between me and my parents, and I'm pretty sure they've either disowned or disinherited me or something over it, but after a while I started having some weird dreams about the last Flitteree city, and then. . ." Sage's voice trailed off, and he reached up to clutch a small pendant around his neck. His eyes closed, and Ria could sense hurt coming from him.

"Sage?" Susie asked.

Ria placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's okay – tell us when you're ready."

Sage nodded sadly, looking at his Pad Thai in disinterest. "Well, about two thousand years ago, something corrupted nearly all of the Amazonian blood line – those who weren't affected fled to another realm, and a huge war broke out between the Flitteree, who were unaffected, and the corrupt Amazons.

"Towards the end of the war, demons began to inhabit the Nether Realm, including Trulpa and her twin brother, Talpa. These two were the most feared of the demons because of the magic armors they wore, and they sided with the Amazons – this all but destroyed the Flitteree, and the few who were left went into hiding while Talpa and Trulpa began to expand their separate Dynasties.

"About one thousand years ago, Talpa decided to attack our world, but he was stopped by the Ancient One and his spirit – but not his body, which was his armor – were sent back to the Nether Realm. The Ancient One used this to create the first nine Mystical Armors – this is the set that my Halo armor comes from," said Sage.

"And what about the Senshi armors?" asked Ria.

"Those came about one hundred years later when Trulpa tried the same thing and lost to the Ancient One, just like her brother, but she was able to retain her body," said Sage. "That's why Trulpa looks human. Talpa, on the other hand, had a physical form that was, well, armor. So anyways, the Ancient One now had eighteen armors on hand that could use two kinds of magic – the kind of magic you're used to, called Spirit magic, and the kind of magic now used mostly by the male armor bearers, called Blood magic.

"At some point the Ancient was faced with a tough decision – he had to keep the two sets of armors separate, and he had to separate the kind of magic used by set with barriers. I'm not sure why, but it probably had to do with eight of the armors from both sets joining Talpa and Trulpa."

"The Warladies," said Ria.

"Right. That created four Dark Warlords and four Dark Warladies – leaving five Ronin Warriors and five Ronin Senshi who were not allowed to know about each until they had all proved themselves in some way or another. Because the five of you defeated Trulpa once and my friends and I took down Talpa twice, it's okay for us to meet like this now," said Sage. "I don't know about Trulpa, but Talpa did have a fifth Warlady – I guess that's what you'd call her – under his control. Her name is Lady Kayura, and she is the last living member of the Ancient One's clan."

"What about Anubis?" asked Ria. "I thought -"

"He's the Ancient One's STUDENT, but he wasn't born into the clan. There's no way he'll ever be able to match the powers of the Ancient One, but Kayura can. However, Talpa used her for hundreds of years, making her a very powerful opponent. She was eventually freed of his control – by Anubis, actually – and took on the Ancient's role."

Ria raised an eyebrow. Sage's story wasn't making sense at the moment. "So then why's Anubis doing that now if Kayura's supposed to be playing that role?" asked Ria. Her eyes widened. "What happened to her? She didn't get killed or something, did she?"

"No, I believe she's still alive – Anubis probably doesn't mention it around you or the other Senshi, but he's probably wondering what happened to her himself," said Sage. "He knows that she's the one who should be doing what he's doing now – he should be very interested in that, as well as some of the other information Trulpa does NOT want you guys to know about."

"So basically there are two of each armor, and there's this Kayura. . ." said Ria.

"Right," said Sage.

"Why do I get the idea this isn't the end of it?" asked Ria, crossing her legs.

"The events of the current generation of Ronin Warriors' second battle with Talpa had some rather. . . terrible consequences," said Sage. "Talpa captured three of us, myself included, and tortured us." Ria felt her insides twitch at the mention. "Don't worry about it – we all got out okay. . . at first. What Talpa didn't realize was that his chosen method of torture destroyed the barriers preventing us from using Spirit magic and the corresponding Senshi from using Blood magic."

Ria's eyes widened. "You mean. . . six of the Ronins can use twice as much magic as they are supposed to be able to use!?" she said. "That's. . . that's incredible! And isn't that a good thing? I mean, if I can use the Wildfire Blood magic in conjunction with my own Spirit magic then-"

Sage shook his head. "It's not that simple," he said. "For one, to the best of my knowledge, the Wildfire barrier is intact. Second, Trulpa is immune to Blood magic and Talpa is immune to Spirit magic, so attacking Trulpa with Blood magic wouldn't do you much good. Either way, there's only two barriers left, which Trulpa found out about."

"Normally, the Ronin Warriors wouldn't be a threat to her, but suddenly, three of them were a threat because they could use magic that could harm her," said Ria. "So so wanted to get rid of the three of us in case you ever found out about her and decided to take her out?"

"Not even close," said Sage. "Trulpa and Talpa weren't exactly on great terms in recent years – I'm guessing around a century. Anubis might know more about it, but things got out of control after our second battle with Talpa. Once everyone but Talpa had cleared out, Trulpa showed up."

"What happened?"

"Trulpa killed Talpa," said Sage. "Her own brother."

"But. . . isn't that a good thing for the Ronin Warriors?" asked Susie.

"Actually, it's a really BAD thing for all of us," said Sage. "Because Talpa's dead, his sister now has control over all of his domain – everything. Sorcerers, Nether Spirits, you name it, she's got it. The only things she didn't have were the Dark Warlord armors and Lady Kayura."

"Why not the Dark Warlords?" asked Ria.

"Because all four of them decided to stop being Talpa's puppets and changed sides, plus, Lady Kayura was freed from Talpa's control and given temporary usage over the Dark Warlord of Cruelty's armor. Since Kayura's a female, she couldn't use it for long, but her heritage bought her a little time with it. Either way, Trulpa was after the Dark Warlords, Kayura, and myself and the other two Ronin Warriors affected by the torture."

"But it wasn't to take you out," said Ria.

"Because we could use Spirit magic, and she wanted to exploit that to her advantage," said Sage. "Back in August, the five of us went on a camping trip in Japan to try and get our minds off what had happened. It was just the five of us for a week, and then what was supposed to be the final night of the trip, three of us heard voices in the middle of the night. Ryo and Rowen didn't even budge."

"Those are the Ronin Warriors who can't use spirit magic," Ria concluded.

"Correct – they're Wildfire and Strata respectively, for the record," said Sage. "Kento, Cye and I – that would be Hardrock, Torrent, and Halo – decided to investigate the noise, and we ran into Kayura and three of the former Dark Warlords. They'd found out about Trulpa killing Talpa and wanted to warn us, but it was too late – Trulpa captured all seven of us that night."

Ria gulped. "Now I'm starting to see where this is getting BAD."

"Trulpa was the one who told us about the consequences of the torture sessions and forced us to study magic for her own purposes – she did some horrible things to us if we disobeyed, and had our armor orbs so we couldn't fight back at full power. Making matters worse, the other prisoners she took were all brainwashed back to the side of the Dynasty AND she gave the Cruelty armor to a servant of hers named Osiris. Currently, she has control over seven Dark Warlords and Warladies, Lady Kayura, and she still has Kento and Cye captive."

Ria stood up clenching her fists. "You left your friends?!"

"Trulpa decided to execute me!" said Sage, also getting to his feet. "I didn't have a choice. For some reason she still seems to want Kento and Cye alive, but she decided I would be of more use to her dead. Maybe she found out I was a Flitteree and wanted to kill me because of that, maybe she wanted to use me as an example, I don't know, but I had the opportunity to escape and I took it. I couldn't possibly go back for Kento and Cye. The best thing I could do for them was get help. Ryo and Rowen think we're dead, and since you clearly haven't heard anything about any of this I'm guessing Anubis doesn't know this is what Trulpa's up to, either."

Ria calmed and sat down. "Right now we are not in a good position – there are exactly two Ronins who know what's going on and have the ability to do something about it – your friends are either prisoners or unaware of what's going on, and the rest of the Senshi are refusing to accept their destinies right now." She closed her eyes and crossed her arms. "Right now I'm thinking we should let your buds in, uh, not the Dynasty-"

"-Japan."

"Right, Japan, know that you're alive and get their butts here, or we all head there," said Ria. She pulled her legs up onto the couch and sighed, running her fingers through her hair. "Plus, we need to talk some sense into the other Senshi – fast – and I don't know how to do that."

The sound of the front door opening and closing signaled Anubis' arrival home. Ria, Sage, and Susie all stood up to greet the officer, but it appeared as if he was a bit too distracted by work to notice the Ronin Warrior in his living room. "Hello girls! You would not BELIEVE the day I had today!" he said.

"Anubis, you-"

"I didn't think it was possible to have that much paperwork to file! Just paper after paper, signature after signature, ugh, it was awful!" Anubis said, tossing his hat towards the couch (Sage caught it, but Anubis still wasn't acknowledging his presence). "This isn't why I wanted to be a police officer!"

"Anubis. . ."

"I wanted to protect people for a living! I know that helping Ria and the other Senshi saves people as well, but if I'm going to have to support Susie and myself I want to do something that's going to do even more to help others. . ." It was about then that Anubis locked eyes with Sage. His jaw dropped, and Sage just gave him a weak smile in response. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!?"

"You know, I could ask you the same question," Sage said.

Anubis placed his hands on the back of a chair, giving Sage an eye. "Talk."

* * *

Once Sage had gone over the bare basics of what happened – this time with a few added details (such as having a weapon he called "Daala's Sword" and a weird dog without hind legs named Dasher, "Dash" for short, with him, Kento being a seer, and Cye acting kind of strangely since his birthday), Anubis was sitting pensively in his chair.

"This is really, really serious. Ria's absolutely right, we need to get the other Ronins still in this world together as soon as possible," said Anubis. "I don't even want to think about how Trulpa could use Kento's power to her advantage, and getting him and Cye out of there needs to happen as soon as possible."

"But how can they do that?" asked Susie.

"Well, it's always possible they could escape on their own – Trulpa's castle might be in such disarray from trying to find Sage that they might not be paying as much attention to their remaining captives right now," said Ria. "That or they've beefed up security around them."

"The latter is more likely," said Anubis. "As it may be, Trulpa might be expecting that this conversation has already transpired – and I can guarantee she wouldn't want you or me to know any of this information. Now that we know this, we can begin planning a rescue operation, which I strongly believe is in order."

"Of course," said Sage. "I can't just leave them there."

"But we can't just charge in there, either – that might only harm your friends," said Anubis. Sage nodded, lowering his head. "I know this must be difficult for you, but you needed to get help – you did the right thing, Sage. You can't rescue them on your own – Trulpa would crush you in your own, and she's already expressed an interest in seeing you dead."

Sage closed his eyes. "But with just three of us. . . it'll be hard. Dash is still technically a puppy and the other Senshi aren't talking to Ria. I know the Staff is powerful and and all but. . . we need to get help. But where? I don't know if Ryo and Rowen are options-"

Anubis help up his hand. "We'll be going to Japan. At the very least, I will."

"What?"  
"We need to go and get them."

Sage stared at Anubis in surprise. "We're going to. . .?"

"I understand why you're nervous – they think you and I are dead."  
"Technically, you should be," said Sage.

Ria raised an eyebrow. "Wha. . . oh yeah, Anubis did the whole dead thing."

"I know it'll be a shock to their system, but it's only fair that they know you're alive – your parents, I'm sure, will want to know you're alive as well, as will Kento and Cye's parents," said Anubis. He saw Sage frown and sighed. "Sage, please, it's not fair for you to-"

"It's complicated," he said. "I mean, I'm sure Kento's parents miss him and Cye, but Cye's mom passed away recently and my parents and I aren't exactly on speaking terms." Ria turned towards Sage – he'd skipped mentioning he wasn't human to Anubis. _Maybe he's getting his details mixed up and can't remember who he's told what to – that happens to me sometimes._

Anubis leaned back. "Well, okay, we'll tell Kento's parents that, to our knowledge, he's still alive." Sage started to get up, but Anubis held up his hand. "It wouldn't be fair of us to guarantee he's alive and give them false hope. We're going to do everything we can to help your friends, but you know I speak the truth."

Sage sat back down and sighed. "Point made."

"Now, what came between you and your parents, Sage?" asked Anubis.

Sage was about to answer when they heard a banging on the door and frantic cries from a woman. "Ella?" asked Ria. Sage turned to Ria in confusion. "Ella is Sam's aunt – Sam being one of the other Senshi. In fact, the other Halo. What's she doing here?" Ria was already on her way to the door as she spoke, a bad feeling in her gut.

She opened the door to find Ella near tears and pointing frantically at a letter in Sam's handwritting. "You've got to do something!" she screamed. Sage also stood up, slowly walking towards the short haired woman and the letter. "Sam's been upset for months but, I didn't think she'd be this upset to do something this drastic!"

"Ella, what's going on?" asked Ria.

Gently, Sage took the letter from Ella. His eyes widened as he scanned the paper. "This is. . . she's not. . .AW, SHIT!" He dropped the letter and brushed passed Ella, Ria and Anubis calling after him. Ella looked at Ria and Anubis in confusion, pointing and gaping at the strange boy who'd just run past her.

"Who was that!? Where is he going?" asked Ella.

Ria picked up the letter and read it over. "I'm sorry about everything, Ella. This isn't your fault. I love you. Take care of yourself and extend my deepest apologies to Ria and Anubis." Her eyes widened in realization once the full meaning of the note hit her, and she dropped the letter. "Sam's suicidal!?"

* * *

Author's Notes

Dun, dun, DUN!

Dude, this story is working out WAY better than RSL – we're getting right into the action, aren't we?

Dixxy


	4. Jump

Freedom

By Dixxy Mouri

Chapter Three

Looking down at the pavement hundreds of feet below, Samantha Thomas swallowed, stepping away from the ledge of the Hancock Tower. She wiped away a few tears and dropped to her knees. She shook her head. "No, Sam, this is the only way – you can't back out now. You know that," she said softly. "You. . . you just have to do it, that's all."

Wearily, she got back to her feet before falling to her knees again – this had been going on for the past hour or so as she kept chickening out of the jump. She grasped the side, clenching her eyes shut. _Samantha Akiko Thomas, you HAVE to do this! If you just take a few steps the whole world will be better off!_

_If you don't do this. . . you'll be just like HIM._

Sam gasped as memories of her father's face flashed before her eyes. His long blond hair, tan skin, violet eyes. . . his blood-covered hands. . . the lifeless body of his young wife and the mother of his child lying in a bloody heap at his feet, and the wiry little girl clutching her mother's hand, begging for her to say something.

_"One day, Sam, you'll be just like me. . ."_

Sam swallowed. "I won't be like you. . . I won't let myself get to that point."

Shaking slightly, she started to stand up and stepped onto the ledge, spreading her arms out. Before she could fall forward and swam dive onto the sidewalk below, she felt a hand grab her wrist. She yelped and turned around to see she wasn't alone on the roof anymore.

Holding her wrist was a tall blond boy with sharp violet eyes and bushy hair. Sam's eyes widened in surprise as the young man gently pulled her away from the ledge. "Glad I found you in time," he said. "Otherwise you would have done something terrible."

"Who the hell are you!?" she asked.

"A friend," he said. "My name is Sage, and I'm here to rescue you."

* * *

"Why oh why oh WHY did she decide to kill herself?" Anubis asked. He and Ria were running full speed away from Mike's house to try and find Sam before she did the irreversible. Anubis was trying to focus in on Sam's location, and Ria was contemplating armoring up to sub armor for the second time that day.

"I didn't think she was that upset that she'd go and do something this stupid!" said Ria. "And even if I had any idea she was going to kill herself, what was I gonna do? She wouldn't talk to me about it, anyways! Believe me, if there was anything I could do about this I would have!"

"I'm not blaming you!" said Anubis.

"Then where are we going?"

"I don't know!"

Ria almost stopped running. "So we're just running to no where in particular?!"

"I didn't say that!" said Anubis. He had a determined look in his eyes – Ria knew he was not going to let one of his students die. "I'm going to try and use the power of the Staff to locate her, but right now I don't have an exact fix on her location – I'm just following a general direction right now."

"So then where the hell does Sage think he's going?"

"Being her partner in arms, he might already have a stronger fix on her location than I do – chances are he's going to beat us to Sam and hopefully have her talked out of it before we need to intervene," said Anubis. "The armors are linked together very strongly – just how strongly I'm not sure, but it should be more than enough for Sage to know where she is."

* * *

"I don't need rescuing!" she said.

Sage frowned, shaking his head at her. Sam held her ground – she wasn't sure who this guy was, but she'd been given super strength by her armor, and this guy was not going to pull her away that easily. She glared at him, snapping her hand out of his grasp.

"Your aunt is really upset," he said.

Sam shook her head, placing her hands on the side of her head. "I know. . . I know. . . but I can't risk hurting her!" She fell to her knees again and started to cry. "You wouldn't understand! I'm a monster! If I keep living I'm just going to hurt someone I love!"

"A monster?" Sage asked, kneeling down next to her.

She looked up at him. "I. . . I'm going to turn into something terrible!"

Sage bit his bottom lip. "I don't believe that for a second."

"You don't even know me!"

Sage sighed. "True enough, but I still don't want you to do this."

"What do you care?" asked Sam. She looked him over, trying to decide if this guy was for real. After all, what kind of person hangs out on skyscrapers to save perfect strangers lives? _He's certainly not wearing a rep cape or underwear over his leotard, that's for sure._

"I know you're not happy with your armor-"

"How did you know about THAT!?" Sam asked, pulling away from him and stepping closer to the edge. Sage reached out a hand, but Sam glared. "If you're with the Dynasty, I don't know what you freaks want with me but it's my duty as a Ronin Senshi to not let you harm this world!"

"I'm not with the Dynasty!" Sage said. "But if you care so much about this world, why are you trying to destroy yourself? There's nothing you can do to stop something bad from happening if you're dead! Your armor would be without a bearer and the Ronin Senshi would be even more incomplete than it is now."

Sam shook her head. "I'm not a good choice."

"You're just upset – you need to come with me and see Ria and Anubis."

Sam snorted. "They don't need me."

"Yes, yes they do," said Sage. "And they need your other friends, too. They need me and my friends. We all need each other to save the world and the world needs us!" Sam watched as he produced a marble almost identical to her own. "I have an armor, too! We're on the same side!"

* * *

"She's up there?!"

Anubis nodded. "I'm sure on if."

"She's going to jump off the Hancock Tower," said Ria.

"Seems that way, yes," said Anubis. He turned back to Ria. "So all we need to do now is get up there and stop her – even if we have to drag her away by force. I can sense both Sage and Samantha are on top of the building, so he has probably bought us a little bit of time to get there."

Ria sighed. _Samantha Thomas. . . I'm SO going to kick your ass for this._

* * *

"How is that possible!?" asked Sam, staring at the armor orbe in surprise.

Sage grinned. "I'll tell you all about it if you come with me."

Sam narrowed her eyes. "No."

The boy sighed. "This isn't the way," he said.

"What would you know?" said Sam.

"I've been in your shoes before," said Sage. He held up his arms and pointed at his wrists. "I wasn't ready to jump off a building, but I did try to kill myself once. A friend of mine found me before I could make a cut so I don't have any scars to show for it, but I was ready to slit my wrists because I thought I didn't have a way out, either."

"You're lying," she said.

Sage shook his head. "Believe me, I almost wish I was, but it's true," he said. "I didn't think I had a great future to look forward to – I've pretty much been disowned by my family back home and I've been held prisoner by the Dynasty – I didn't think I had a way out, but I'm standing here before with my freedom and my life intact. I don't have much right now, but I have what I have, and I don't intend to let it go."

Sam closed her eyes. "Every morning when I get up and look in the mirror, all I can see is my father. Almost everything about me I've gotten from him. His height. His eyes. His hair. Even though I've a girl I've got some of his build. I'm just like him, and do you know what kind of man he was?"

"I don't, but-"

"HE KILLED MY MOTHER!" she said. "It's only a matter of time before-"

Sage grabbed her by the wrist again. "Just the fact that you're aware of what he was is the first step towards not being him! If you're concerned enough about your friends that you don't want them to be hurt, then you won't hurt them!" he said. "I'm sorry about what he did to your mother, but would she have wanted you to do this to yourself?"

"I. . ."

"You can't do this, Sam," he said. "Please. Come with me and we'll talk."

"I don't even know who you are," she said.

"Then talk with Ria or Anubis or your aunt or anybody – but don't do this."

Sam clenched her eyes shut and started to rethink her decision when she felt the ledge beneath her foot begin to weaken. Panicking, she looked backwards and saw chips of stone begin to fall towards the ground – which suddenly looked even farther away than it had before – and then the ground beneath her gave way.

* * *

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Oh no, SAM!" Ria cried, darting up the last few stairs. _She couldn't have. . . oh God no she couldn't have! Sage, do SOMETHING! YOU CAN'T LET SAM DIE!_ She burst through the door and onto the open roof, but as she frantically looked around for signs of anyone, she didn't see a single person.

Anubis burst through behind her. "Shit! We're too late!"

Ria fell to her knees, staring at her hands in disbelief. "She's gone."

"She's fine!"

Ria and Anubis looked towards the sound of Sage's voice to see Sage holding a crying, terrified Sam in his arms as he floated gently near the edge of the building. Flapping gently behind him were two green and yellow wings – similar to a dragon or a bat, Ria thought to herself. He gently touched down on the rooftop, Sam still clinging to him for dear life. "Sam!" Ria cried.

Sam sniffled, her face still burried in Sage's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Ria," she said.

"I just about had her talked down when the ledge she was standing on collapsed – she didn't jump, she fell," said Sage. He motioned as if he wanted to put her down, but Sam just seemed to cling tighter, so her just continued to hold her. "So I went after her before she fell too far."

Anubis was staring at Sage in disbelief. "I don't believe it. . . a Flittereee." He sat down on the rooftop, his face full of disbelief as he looked back and forth between Sage and Ria, who was now walking over to the two Halos. "A fucking Flitteree. Standing right in front of me. And I didn't know."

"Anubis?" asked Ria, who was trying to hug Sam.

"I think I need a really, really stiff drink."

* * *

Author's Notes

So Sam is safe and Anubis needs a stiff drink (which, considering he comes home to find someone he didn't expect to see, well, maybe EVER again in his living room, his student tries to kill herself, and he finds out that Sage is a part of a species he had long assumed to be dead. . . I don't blame him).

Sorry for the shortness – maybe the next chapter will be longer?

Dixxy


	5. Attack of the Bucket Brigade

Freedom

By Dixxy Mouri

Chapter Four

It wasn't going to be a normal day.

Despite nothing looking out of the ordinary, it was just one of those times that Rowen could sense something weird was going to happen. He hated it when that happened, because it was a completely abstract thing that had been happening to him since he'd discovered his armor. There was no logic behind it.

True, it was nice to known when weird stuff was about to happen, but that didn't change that, well, something strange was going to inevitably happen. . . and that he had no way of telling what the event was going to be. Sitting up, he narrowed his eyes and glared at the window.

Of course, Ryo was already up and probably downstairs or outside. Not that Ryo was what Rowen would call a "morning" person, he still got up a lot earlier than he did. His bed was left in a mess, as per usual, and that's probably how Rowen would leave his bed as well. They weren't exactly neat freaks when it came to stuff like that.

Sage's bed had remained untouched for months.

Yawning, Rowen headed to the bathroom, grabbing a towel on the way. He stepped into the bathroom, stripped naked, and started to take a shower, still trying to logically reduce what might happen that day that had Strata up in a tizzy as he started to wash his hair.

As usual, there really wasn't anything he could deduce.

_Great. Time to play the waiting game._ Rowen sat on the floor of the shower, wrapping his arms around his legs as he sat to think and let the water pelt him. He sighed and leaned his head back, opening his mouth to drink some of the hot water – an odd habit he'd formed when he was younger.

_There's not much you can do right now._

Rowen got out of the shower, dried off, and went to get dressed. After pulling on some boxers and a pair of jeans, he stepped onto the balcony. Mia's car was in the driveway, and he could faintly hear Mia and the others talking about something downstairs.

Pulling on a shirt, Rowen went downstairs to see Mia, Yuli, and Ryo having lunch in the kitchen. "Glad to see you're awake," said Mia. Rowen began looking for something to eat, eventually settling on making himself a sandwich. "I was going to send Ryo up for you in a little bit."

Rowen shrugged. "I've already showered – I've been up for a little bit."

"That's good," said Mia, taking a sip of coffee.

The Warrior of Strata took a seat next to Ryo. He turned to the other Ronin, a serious look in his eyes. "Ryo, has your armor been acting funny at all today? I think mine is," he asked. "I think something's up and I wanted to see if you felt weird this morning, too."

"That was a little sudden," said Mia.

"What happened, Rowen?" asked Yuli.

"Technically. . . nothing yet," said Rowen.

"But you feel that something's up, like Strata is telling you something," said Ryo.

Rowen grinned. "So, you can feel it, too?"

Ryo thought about it. "A little."

"A little?"

Ryo leaned back into his chair. "I just thought I was going to be a in a bad mood," he said. "But now that I know you're feeling weird. . . what do we do about it? If it's the Dynasty we really don't have a way of going to them, and if it's something else. . . well, what else would there be?"

"There are other evils besides the Dynasty," said Mia. She crossed her legs, taking another sip of coffee. "The Dynasty is just the one the Ronin Warriors deal with most of the time. That doesn't necessarily mean they aren't a threat, though. What worries me is that it would just be the two of you taking action."

"Would we have a choice? If we do nothing, they might hurt a lot of people and go after us anyways," said Rowen, folding his arms. "The best Ryo and I can do right now is just. . . do our best, I guess. Make it quick, and get out of there. We can't afford to waste time with only two of us."

"You can have the Jewel of Life!" said Yuli.

"That might not work, Yuli," said Ryo.

"He's right," said Rowen, putting his sandwich down. "We really don't know how to use it effectively – it just kind of works on its own, and we can't rely on it to just. . . well. . . work when we need it. It doesn't exactly have an on button, and having a weapon we don't know how to use isn't very useful."

"Well, maybe it's not trouble," said Yuli. "Maybe it's something good."

"Yeah, like that'll happen," said Ryo.

* * *

"I can't believe you convinced me to do this!"

"Oh, relax, will you?" said Ria, slapping Sage on the back. The Ronin Warrior of Halo grumbled at the Wildfire girl, still looking in the bathroom mirror in disdain. "I think it looks kinda sexy on you! Besides, Anubis only agreed to let you come along if you did something like this."

"Ria, you'd probably think I was sexy wearing paper bags."

Sam blushed. "Well, you kinda do."

Sage pointed at his hair. "But why like THIS!?"

Shortly after getting Sam back to Anubis' house and calming her down, the group made the decision to travel to Japan to find Ryo and Rowen. With the other Senshi in bad mindsets and the other two Ronins in the Dynasty, Ryo and Rowen would the easiest, fastest help they could get.

The problem, however, was Sage. Unlike Anubis, who really didn't know anyone outside of the Ronin Warrior's inner circle, Sage earned some public attention after he, Cye, and Kento vanished. The last thing the group wanted was attracting unwanted attention, but at the same time, Sage really want to see his friends again. Sam suggested that if they could alter Sage's appearance slightly, it might work. That way, people who simply saw him on TV or a poster might not know who he was, but someone who knew him would.

Ria was placed in charge of the mini-makeover. Sage was displeased.

"It's not forever, Sage," said Sam. "It's just hair dye."

Sage growled at Ria. "She didn't tell me she'd be STREAKING MY HAIR!"

"I think the green stripes look nice – it's a good compliment to your blonde."

Indeed, Ria had added thick, green highlights in his hair with some paler yellow ones to offset the green. Though she was pleased, Sage wasn't. "Ria, this is going to ATTRACT attention!" said Sage. "The only reason I let you do this was because we wanted to AVOID that, and you've done the opposite!"

"I never said I was done with you," said Ria. She reached into the brown shopping back where the horrid green dye had come from and produced several other items. "We've got here some colored contacts, snazzy fake glasses, a little bit of masculine jewelry, and some temporary tattoos."

"Is this really going to work?" said Sage.

"Hey, who knows? This might even get you laid!" said Ria.

"What!?" asked Sage.

"Sheesh, stop being such an uptight virgin," said Ria.

"You're a virgin, Ria," said Sam.

Ria shrugged. "I have not yet found a male worthy of me yet." She grinned at Sage. "You, maybe. But so far I have just not found the right guy yet." She sighed. "Besides, according to the wonderful Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I am not legally old enough to give consent until I'm eighteen. Apparently I'm old enough to fight demons, but I can't gamble, drink, smoke, or screw for two and a half years!"

"Like that will stop you?"

"The smoking thing? No way, that stuff smells nasty and does terrible things to your lungs. Drinking? Maybe. Gambling? Like they don't have that a Chuck E. Cheese anyways. If that isn't a sanctioned child casino I don't know what is. Sex? After I turn sixteen all bets are off!" said Ria.

"Loosing your virginity isn't as glamorous as you're thinking," said Sage.

Ria dropped her jaw. "Are you telling me that. . . you're not. . ."

The Ronin Warrior of Halo blushed. "Not since I was fourteen."

"FOURTEEN!?" said Ria. She sat down on the edge of the tub, staring at Sage in complete shock. "This makes NO SENSE. You're kinda uptight, a little bit of a goody-two-shoes and you were doing the horizontal hokey-pokey for two when you were FOURTEEN!?"

Sage looked away. "I was in a rebellious stage. Rowen and I were at this concert, I met this random girl, we started to make out, and it. . . didn't exactly stop there." He sighed. "I never saw her again. Never mind that, I don't think I ever found out what her NAME was."

"And you regret it?" asked Sam.

Sage nodded. "Basically."

Ria was staring blankly at the wall. "I wouldn't have minded being her."

"RIA!"

"What?"

* * *

Unsure of what to do with themselves, Ryo and Rowen decided it was a good time for a scouting mission. Without telling Mia or Yuli where they were headed, the two Ronin Warriors took White Blaze and started to search the countryside around the manor. With any luck, they wouldn't find anything dangerous.

"Everything looks fine so far," said Ryo. "But we don't even know what we're looking for." White Blaze butted his head into Ryo's hand, and Wildfire absently began to pet the tiger's head. "You got any ideas, boy? Smell something funny?"

White Blaze froze and began to sniff the air, then growled.

"Rowen!" Ryo called.

Before Rowen could respond, he was sent flying towards Ryo and White Blaze. Screaming, Strata landed roughly on the ground next to Wildfire and White Blaze, wincing. He sat up and gave Ryo a reassuring, but pained smile. "I'm fine, but I want to know who did that!"

For the first time in nearly a year, Ryo and Rowen were face to face with Dynasty Soldiers. Strata raised an eyebrow when he noticed they were a muddy brown color instead of the normal grayish green they were used to, but Ryo cracked his knuckles. "All right, Tin Heads, we're gonna make this quick, so listen up!"

The Dynasty Soldiers began to chuckle as Ryo armored up. "Ryo!"

The other Ronin Warrior was staring at the Dynasty Soldiers with a cocky grin. "Relax, Rowen. I'm going to use the Flare Up Now to barbeque these losers so we can keep going and quit wasting time with them!" Ryo called, already beginning to summon Wildfire. "ARMOR OF THE WILDFIRE, DAO JIN!"

Rowen got to his feet and began to try and summon Strata, only to have White Blaze pull on his arm. "White Blaze, what are you doing!?" he asked. "I need to help Ryo incase something goes wrong! I know they're just Dynasty Soldiers but we can't take any risks!"

White Blaze tossed his head towards Ryo, who was just about ready to fire off his ultimate Wildfire attack. Rowen, naturally, got out of the way, followed quickly White Blaze. Ryo leapt in the air, screaming his battle cry. "ARMOR OF THE WILDFIRE, FLARE UP NOW!"

In seconds, a giant pillar of fire engulfed the group of Dynasty Soldiers, and Ryo landed gracefully on the ground. He turned to his companion and began to walk towards him. "See Rowen? No big deal," he said calmly. "But. . . why didn't White Blaze want you to fight them?"

"I don't know," Rowen said, lowering his head. "He seems to not like the idea of us fighting those things. . . and they look a little bit different, but a Dynasty Soldier is a Dynasty Solider, right? What difference should it make?" As he lifted his head again, his eyes widened. "Uh oh."

"Uh oh what?" Ryo asked, turning around. "WHAT THE HELL!?"

Not one of the Dynasty Soldiers had so much as a scratch on them.

"HOW DID THEY SURVIVE A FLARE UP NOW!?" Ryo yelled.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Rowen screamed.

The Dynasty Soldiers began to laugh and advance on Ryo and Rowen.

The Ronin Warriors began to creep backwards, with White Blaze growling at the soldiers. Wildfire gulped, gripping his swords for dear life while Strata stared at the charred Earth the Dynasty Soldiers had miraculously survived. "Well, any bright ideas?" asked Ryo.

"Yeah, I got one," said Rowen.

"And that is?"

"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

"THAT'S YOUR PLAN!?"

"YOU'RE GOING ALONG WITH IT!"

Ryo had to concede that – he, Rowen, and White Blaze were making a full-on retreat, and the Dynasty Soldiers were making chase. "How could they have survived the power of my Flare Up Now!? The Dark Warlords used to fall from less powerful attacks!"

"I don't know!" said Rowen. "How would I know that!?"

"You're the super genius!"

"I don't know everything!"

"VOLCANO RUN!"

Ryo, Rowen, and White Blaze skidded to a halt as a girl in the Wildfire subarmor ran by, dragging two katanas behind her. From the katanas came a river of lava. She stopped before them, grinning at them cockily. "What the – another Wildfire!?" asked Rowen.

"I'm taking care of the Bucket Brigade," she said. "A 'thank you' would be nice."

"Who are you!?" Ryo demanded. "Why are you wearing that armor?"

Before the mysterious girl could answer, the river of lava began to erupt, crashing over the Dynasty Soldiers. Unlike Ryo's attack, however, this spell took out the first few lines, leaving melted metal in its wake. "Aw man, there's still more of them? That's annoying," said the girl, scratching her head.

"How can you be so calm about this?!" said Rowen.

The girl raised a red eyebrow, glaring at him through green eyes. "What, you think I came unprepared for a fight? I'm a little better than that," she said. She smiled cheerfully, stroking Rowen's chin. "I brought some friends for them to play with! And there's one right now!"

"BOLT RUN!"

The next few lines of, as the girl referred to it, the Bucket Brigade, were taken out by successive lightning strikes, seemingly controlled by and coming from a tall blonde woman with long hair. . . wearing the Halo armor. The Dynasty Soldiers who were struck were writhing from the electrocution.

This still left a sizable amount of soliders.

"Don't these guys know when to give up?" the Wildfire girl said. She crossed her arms, and stared down the remaining soldiers. "If you don't want your asses kicked, leave now. You saw what Sam and I just did to your friends. If you don't want that to happen to you, then leave."

The Dynasty Soldiers responded by pointing their weapons at the Wildfire girl.

"Ria!" the Halo girl yelled.

The Wildfire girl, now called Ria, held up a first, then extended a finger. "One."

The Dynasty Soldiers growled.

Ria held up a second finger. "Two."

The Dynasty Soldiers began to charge.

"LIGHTNING STRIKE!"

The Bucket Brigade stopped and turned their attention to a glowing yellow figure wielding a no-datchi above his head. Rowen's jaw dropped when he recognized the Armor of the Halo on the figure and felt his blood run cold and, in what felt like slow motion, the rest of the Dynasty Soldiers were cut down by the attack. "No way. . ." he said slowly.

Out of the battle, the figure in the Halo armor began to walked towards them, taking off his helmet in the process. Rowen held his breath as he watched blonde and green locks fall from the helmet, settling into the all-too-familiar hairstyle of his best friend, Sage Date.

"Sage! You're alive!"

* * *

Author's Notes

I'm going to guess a lot of you are pretty happy with this chapter, since it's been the one you've PROBABLY been waiting for since. . . well. . . November of 2000? That's when the original _Consequences of Capture_ was written.

Okay, so Kento and Cye aren't involved yet – give me some chapters, okay?

Now, I know I've stopped doing this for individual reviews, but I've decided to field some questions:

**What's going on with **_**Dragonia**_Both of version of _Dragonia_ are now obsolete. There will eventually be a _Dragonia_ based storyline, but for now Rona's mom is not on her way to the house, Lucky and Melody have not made any canon appearances, and onviously, duh, RYO AND ROWEN KNOW WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!

**Sage's virginity : **This was the reason why I briefly edited _Consequences of Capture_, which strongly suggested he was a virgin. Why did I do this? Part of it was reflect the kind of person Sage was when he was rebelling against his parents in the prologue piece, some of which comes out later on. Technically, a rebellious Sage/Seiji is canon to RW/YST. And yes, Trulpa's got no idea. In my head I have it worked out that she figured out Cye and Kento were virgins and just assumed Sage was one as well.

**Kento's partial-amnesia** : Yes. This is something I've wanted to add in for a while.

**Ryo's "imaginary" pet tiger** : They probably assumed it was a hallucination since he continuously insisted White Blaze was real, even after he was beyond a normal age for imaginary friends.

**What's with the rest of the continuity? What about **_**Ronin Senshi Legends**_ : The continuity was reset. The only current stories are the most recent _Consequences of Capture_, _Freedom_, and "Who We Are". Everything else is no longer canon at this time, but plot points may be taken from those stories and added to later pieces – for example, there will probably be Kento/Keisha things because people seem to really like that pairing. As for _Ronin Senshi Legends_, it's been discontinued completely. Anubis' journal entries replace RSL, but other things will be revealed as the rest of the Senshi make their appearances and will fill in some of the gaps.

**Where did those spells the Senshi and Sage used come from?** : Spirit magic. Those brown Dynasty Soldiers were immune to Ryo's Blood Magic, which is why they survived a Flare Up Now without a scratch. The blue/green/grey soldiers from the series, for the record, would be immune to the Senshi's Spirit Magic. I do have a planned arsenal of spells for each character, obviously including things like Flare Up Now for Ryo.

Here's what you can know for now: Each of the Ronin Warriors have their respective sure kill. The Senshi each have a small arsenal of Spirit magic. The Halos, Hardrocks, and Torrents have crossover. So the current NAMED spells y'all know about are:

Ria  
_Volcano Run – An attack using her katanas_

Sage & Sam  
_Bolt run – a thunderbolt spell  
Lightning Strike – an attack using her no-datchi – a low powered Thunderbolt Cut  
Thunderbolt Cut_  
Plus healing spells

Sara  
_Super Wave Smasher_

Keisha  
_Iron Rock Crusher_

Ryo  
_Flare Up Now!  
Rage of Inferno_

Cye  
_Super Wave Smasher_  
The weird red-lighting thingy

Kento  
_Iron Rock Crusher_  
Seer abilities

Rowen  
_Arrow Shock Wave_

Ronin Warrior Group  
_Circle of Light: Very strong protection or dispel_

Rona's not on the list yet because a) she does not have the Arrow Shock Wave and b) you haven't seen her in action yet. 

Hope Y'all enjoyed this chapter!

Dixxy


	6. Reunions

Freedom

By Dixxy Mouri

Chapter Five

As per usual, the Nether Realm provided a very bleak landscape for anyone to look out on. The sky wasn't the familiar blue – it was a rusty orange. Instead of seeing anything like grass or trees, there was the dry, lifeless desert and the gray and purple haze of the Under City, Trulpa's personal domain of demons and monsters.

Only ten humans were in the Nether Realm to the best of Kento's knowledge. Osiris, Sehkment, Dais, Cale, Kayura, Vanessa, Daria, Cara, Cye, and himself. And of all those people, he could really only trust the other Ronin Warrior, unless they figured out a way to de-brainwash Kayura, Dais, Cale, and Sehkment – though, truth be told, Kento really didn't want to deal with any of the Warlords.

At the very least, it looked like Sage was making progress in contacting Anubis and the Senshi. From Trulpa's screaming tirades and temper tantrums, it sounded like the Ronin Warrior of Halo had successfully met with Anubis and alerted him to the current situation. Trulpa had tried to counter this with attacking Ryo and Rowen, but it sound like that didn't end well for her, either.

In short, it looked like things were finally going well.

_Maybe Cye and I will be rescued soon, and then we can all kick Trulpa's ass,_ Kento thought hopefully. He looked up from the balcony, into the not quite night or day sky. _It would certainly be nice to see a blue sky again, and feel the energy of the Earth. I miss that._

"Kento?"

Kento turned around to see Cye standing the alcove. "Coming back to the apartment for lunch yet?" he asked. "I know you're worried about Sage, but he can take care of himself – we know that he's with Anubis and the Senshi, and it sounds like they've even made contact with Ryo and Rowen."

"Yeah, but we're still here," he said.

Cye walked over next to him. "Things are going well for the first time in a while – cheer up." He smiled, patting Kento on the back. Hardrock sighed, hanging his head. "You'll be fine, Kento. Now let's go get some lunch, all right? If you don't eat something then I'll be really worried."

Kento raised an eyebrow. _I'll be fine? What about you, Cye?_ "Okay, let's go get some lunch," he said slowly. Cye smiled and teleported away, presumably to the apartment, while Kento watch the empty space. _Why didn't you say "we'll" be fine. Is there something you're not telling me, Cye?_

His stomach growled, and Kento decided it was time to following suit.

* * *

Ryo and Rowen weren't quite sure what to do with themselves, staring at Sage as incoherent streams of babble came pouring out of their mouths. The Ronin Warrior of Halo stood there motionless, his eyes locked his friends. Finally, the three Ronin Warriors launched themselves at each other, creating a giant mass of hugging and laughing and crying.

"I thought you were dead!" Rowen cried.

"Thank God you're all right!" Ryo said.

Sage tried to get both of the other Ronins in an embrace. "I missed you guys!"

"Are you okay?"

"What happened?"

"What's with the hair?"

"Tell us everything!"

"Who took you away from us!?"

"We'll go kick their asses!"

Sage stayed quiet, letting Rowen and Ryo get their mother-henning out of the way. There was a lot to explain, and he needed to figure out what was the most important to talk about. _Right. They need to know the bare basics. Kento and Cye need rescuing. Ria and Sam are here to help, and Anubis is alive. We'll get into the details when we get back to Mia's._

"Sage?" Rowen asked.

"There's a lot we need to talk about. The bottom line is that Kento and Cye are still in trouble, and I came here to get your help," said Sage. He gestured to Ria and Sam, who were standing awkwardly off to the side. "That's Ria Carmichael and Samantha Thomas – they're Ronins like us, and they're going to help us, too, though I don't think they speak any Japanese-"

"Mmm, Wildfire was speaking fine," said Rowen. "Enough to flirt with me."

Sage didn't looked impressed with the 'enough to flirt' comment and turned to Ria, who smiled brightly. He turned back to the other Ronin Warriors. "Sorry, Ria's a bit of a. . . handful." Sage crossed his arms. "Ria, how'd you speak Japanese so well? I didn't think you girls knew any."

Ria started to walk over, her hands behind her back. "I bought a teach yourself kit a while ago," she said. "I figured it would help out Anubis if I could read some of the stuff he had so he wasn't going at it alone. Sam knows a TINY bit of Japanese but not enough to carry a conversation."

Sam waved. "Hi."

"See? You've just experienced maybe ten percent of her Japanese."

Ryo turned to Sage in curiosity. "When she said 'Anubis'. . ."

Sage nodded. "Yeah. You'll have to ask him for more details on that. Something about this super rare flower that brought him back to life. . . I heard a little about it, but not enough to go into details. He's probably at Mia's already – the only reason we aren't there with him is because we sensed the battle."

"Sage. . . what happened?" asked Rowen. He placed his hands on Sage's shoulders. "You can tell us anything. We've been thinking you were dead and now that you're here. . . we want to help." He pulled Sage into a hug. "I've been your best friend for years. Talk to me. What happened that night?"

Sage returned the embrace. "We all started hearing this voice, and we followed it. Then we got captured and couldn't get away," he said quietly. "It's been horrible these past months. I just escaped a couple of weeks ago because of a failed execution attempt – I couldn't risk going back for them."

"We think he did the right thing – by himself, Sage's chances of succeeding at a rescue attempt were slim, and since Trulpa already wanted him dead, he decided to get help instead," said Ria. She put her hands on her hips. "As you can see, Sam and I are also Ronins, but we're probably not strong enough to invade the Dynasty as it stands now to go get your friends. That's why we need you two."

Ryo nodded, standing to face Ria. "All right. But when we get back to Mia's, I think we deserve a full explanation. All right?" Ria nodded, extending her hand for Ryo to take. The two Wildfires shook on it, and the group of Ronins and White Blaze began to head back to Mia's house.

* * *

Mia couldn't believe her eyes. It was looking to be a normal day of research, cooking, cleaning, and making sure the boys stayed out of trouble that morning. And then while she'd been arranging a vase of flowers there was a knock on the door, and when she answered it she saw Anubis standing on the other side, a little purple haired girl in tow.

Anubis smiled and bowed. "Hello."

Mia screamed and dropped the vase.

"Mia, please, calm down!" Anubis said, holding up his hands.

Mia, however, was still screaming.

Needless to say, the screaming had attracted Yuli's attention. "Mia! What's going on?" the boy yelled as he came running towards his mother figure. "Why are you screaming like that!?" He reached her, looked past her and saw Anubis, and also yelped. "Anubis!?"

The purple hair girl said something to Anubis in English, to which he sighed, took a deep breath, and held up his hands again. "Please, let me explain myself. I realize this is a shock but if you give me a chance to explain. . . Mia, please, calm down!"

Mia finally stopped screaming, but was staring at him in stunned silence.

Anubis sighed. "Okay, now that you've-"

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

"ANUBIS!" Yuli and the little girl cried, watching in shock as Mia punched the former Warlord. Anubis took several steps back before falling on his ass, staring at Mia in shock. The little girl ran to his eyes and looked at Mia in horror, clutching the shoulder of his shirt.

Mia was still breathing hard, her eyes cold. "What are you doing here?"

Anubis was still shocked, his mouth agape. "Mia. . ."

Yuli stepped in front of Mia, gesturing to his shirt. "It's okay, Mia – I've got the Jewel of Life," he said. "Calm down. Please. Don't punch him again until. . . um. . ." He looked between the two adults and sighed, pulling out the Jewel of Life. It glinted a little in the sun, but didn't do anything. "It's not doing anything."

A little weary, Anubis got to his feet and brushed off his jeans. "It is a somewhat finicky talisman at times, isn't it?" he said. The little girl hid behind Anubis, poking her head around his waist. "Mia, I realize you're upset and you probably have every right to be angry with me. But you have my word that I am not here to bring any harm to you, Yuli, Ryo, or Rowen."

Mia scrunched her face up in anger before her expression paled. "Wait."

"Hmm?"

"You. . . you didn't mention the other Ronins," said Mia.

"Yes – that's what I'm here about," said Anubis.

"You know what happened to Sage and the others?" asked Yuli.

Anubis nodded. "Yes. And the situation is grim."

"MIA!"

Anubis breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh thank God."

Mia and Yuli watched as Ryo and Rowen came running up the driveway, with three people in tow. Although the two young women were strangers, the young man looked an awfully lot like Sage. . . only with green streaks in his hair. "Is that. . . is that Sage?" asked Mia.

"Are you going to punch him, too, Mia?" Yuli asked dryly.

"Yes, that's Sage all right," said Anubis.

Mia stepped out of the doorway, looking at the group in disbelief as they stood around Anubis (Ryo and Rowen eying him in awe). "Sage," she said, swallowing hard as she began to cry. "You're alive. Oh thank God you're alive!" She rushed forward and embraced Sage, crying into his shoulder.

"SAGE!" Yuli ran over to Sage as well, hugging him from the other side.

"I'm glad to see you, too, Mia," Sage said quietly. He looked over her shoulder and saw Anubis, who we regarded curiously. "Um. . . Mia, do you know what happened to Anubis? His eye's all swollen." Mia paused, pulled away, and smiled sheepishly.

"Um. . . would everyone like to come inside?"

* * *

Author's Notes

I was going to make this longer. . . but this was a good stopping point.

-Dixxy


End file.
